DataWind Prepping to Launch 4G Phablet Below Rs 5000 [Report]

Makers of Akash tablets, DataWind is apparently testing out a 4G LTE phablet with a leading telecom player in the US. The phablet will be will be running on FDD-LTE technology for providing 4G services.

"Our latest phablet device will be priced under sub-$100 category and will appear in the second half of this fiscal year," Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Datawind told Light Reading India.

Suneet Singh Tuli said that the 4G technology in India is still in a state of development, as Bharti Airtel, is currently the only telco offering 4G service in India and this is done via dongles and router. Therefore the Phablet will not be made available in India, any time soon.

"At present, we have plans to roll-out the device in the US only. We are observing the Indian 4G market and whenever the right time comes, we will introduce the India-specific device," he said.

Indian Telecom operators have selected TDD-LTE technology for providing 4G or LTE services in the country. Videocon Telecommunications is the only telco that will offer 4G services via FDD-LTE. The service is to go live by the end of this year.

Suneet Singh Tuli, who was one of the panelists at UBM's 4G World India expo 2013 believes that big screen devices will increase video consumption rate, which in turn aids the growth of 4G technology.